Better Days
by noobl
Summary: A collection of random oneshots based around Season 1, Starco. (Open to Requests)
1. Rejection

He was lost now.

Just some kid lost in an endless desert, looking for a trace of direction.

Having built up to courage to ask his lifelong crush out and get denied was the most crushing blow Marco had to his self-image.

To simply be looked at questioningly by her as if to say, "Are you joking?" And to awkwardly dismiss himself as a joke as he crawled back into his shell, suppressing the urge to just break down right then and there until he'd at least made it home onto his bed.

Jackie represented an important thing for Marco. Being able to say he could simply have a conversation with her without flustering, without looking down at his shoes and walking away, was an important goal for Marco. He wanted to get out of this hole of social dejection and talk more, socialize and finally get out of that closed circle of his.

He'd slowly made progress with it, he'd made a few more friends and talked around a bit more, but with foresight, it was clear he probably reached too far at the end. Trying to ask her out was the biggest mistake he'd yet made. It shouldn't have been a surprise that he'd been rejected. He was the 'safe kid' after all, the dude who everyone avoided and laughed at sometimes. Why would a minor change make any difference?

It was clear he was still the same, unconfident and unsure, awkward and quiet.

What would someone even find in him?

Just some overly concerned kid who seemingly had no worth or pride, no special talent or skill, and some dull attitude. Nothing good.

…

At least he'd have all night to bash himself over it.

To realize how worthless he was.

To understand how much of a failure he was.

He planted his face down on his pillow as he jumped onto his bed as the tears immediately started flowing. He suppressed his sobs and groans all the while.

Why'd he have the gall to go up to one of the most popular girls in school and expect her to say yes?

What part of him said that he was on the same footing as her?

What an idiot he was for doing such a stupid thing. It was obvious she was astronomically out of his league. He had no chance, and that was clear from the beginning.

He only threw himself down more as the hours progressed, blaming himself for being so awkward, for being so naive and so boring.

Whatever part of his mind that said he had value, that he was important and loved, all went away as the sun passed and the darkness came. He skipped dinner and intended to stay in his room for the rest of the night, hoping to at least forget his incredible disaster today for a few hours before being forced to deal with the consequences the next day.

Where once everyone just looked through him as if he was a ghost, they'd just laugh at his unbelievable attempt to ask Jackie out for the rest of the year, or for that matter, the rest of high school.

He'd just lost what little dignity and pride he'd slowly built up and maintained over the years in a single day, and now he just wanted to go to sleep and ignore the world around him forever, to be left alone in his own reality.

Not like anyone would care anyway. The night would see to it that he'd fall asleep, tired and worn, broken and shattered.

But before his dreams could pull him down that abyss further, and before he could fall into a deeper sleep, his door creaked open, and someone stuck their head in.

"Marco?"

"Marco? Are you okay?"

Her voice what quiet, a whisper he could barely hear, but it was enough to wake him up as he straightened up in his bed.

The light was off, thankfully. His tears hadn't dried yet, and he didn't want to talk about the day right now. He didn't want Star to get involved with anything either, so he wiped his face and tried to clear the rasp in his throat as he spoke up.

"I'm… I'm fine Star. Nothing to worry about."

"Then why are you here in bed?"

"Just trying to sleep…"

"At 7? Come on Marco, you never sleep that early! Why won't you tell me? Don't you trust me?"

She stepped closer, flicking the lightswitch on, causing Marco to flinch and cover his face in the abrupt bright. He wiped his face and sniffled a bit.

"It's not that I don't trust you Star… I just wanna be alone right now."

"But why? Just to stay in your bed all night and cry? I only want to help!"

He snapped at her wording.

"You don't get it! I asked Jackie out, and I got rejected, wasn't that obvious? Then you come here and act as if I should try and talk about it as if I don't care! How can you help me when you don't understand?"

"..."

"Don't you see it? I'm worthless! Always have been! Can't even look someone in the eye or act as if I'm cool. I've always been the 'safe kid,' I've always been ignored and laughed at!"

"Marco… that's not true…"

"Liar! I'm tired of it! Always invisible to those around me, always forgotten… and then I try to expand outward, push myself to do what I've tried to do ever since kindergarten, and I fail like I always do."

She moved to the side of his bed in silence, staring him down with a concerned and firm look as he continued to rant and despise himself.

For Star to see Marco this lost, this unsure and hateful of himself, was both saddening and surprising. He always seemed so level-headed, so prepared and helpful to her, and always, always, fun to be around.

To hear him say that he was unsocial, worthless, and a failure only made her determined to prove him wrong.

"None of that is true! You're not worthless Marco! Have you forgotten about everything else you have here?"

"What else do I have? Hm? I've lost my dignity and my direction all in one day! Everyone's just going to laugh at me from now on! I've basically thrown it all out."

"How about your friends and family?"

"Those are an exception! How do you think it would feel to live every day knowing you're a joke in the school, that you can't even have a real conversation or do anything interesting? My friends and family can't help me with that, they'll always know!"

"Then why should you listen to them?"

"I don't want to, but it's not like I can't when the entire school is staring you down!"

…

"Don't you get it, Star? I've got no one to turn to, no one who cares about me."

…

"I'm here. I care."

"Star, come on."

"I said I'm here. Marco, why do you do this to yourself?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're worth so much more than you think…"

…

"Did you forget about everything you've done for me? You've made everything so much brighter. You've helped me solve my problems, you've gotten me out of my own messes, and you've always made boring days some of the best days. You've sacrificed a lot for my sake. How is all of that worthless?"

"..."

"It hurts me to see you like this Marco! I know it hurts that Jackie rejected you, I… dealt with something like that before… but that doesn't mean you're nothing! You're stronger than that. If you think nobody cares about you Marco, you should know that I care. I care a lot about you. If everyone else is going to laugh at you, then I'll be there for you."

She grabbed his hand in hers in support, which Marco grasped as he looked at her.

They looked at each other for a moment longer with a peaceful silence developing in the room.

Star looked beautiful tonight.

The moon's light shone lightly on her, showing her long, flowing blonde hair, her caring and concerned eyes, her green dress and the headband, and those cute hearts on her cheeks…

In a split second, it hit him.

A realization.

He decided to act on it.

He pulled her closer to himself and kissed her.

* * *

A/N:

yay first kiss in one of my stories

Considering I suck at romance everything like this is probably going to be weird or bad I guess, but oh well, gotta learn somehow. Most of the oneshots here will just be random things I think of, not sure if I can write fluff or anything like that but might as well try, so if you have any ideas I'm open to them although I'm not sure I can deliver a good product. Writing shorter stories seems to be easier for me though.

Reviews and Criticism welcome as always.

anyways going to update my other story soon, maybe 2-3 days.

until then, in the box i go


	2. Friendship Thursdays

Ah, Thursday Night…

Not the best day of the week by any measure, but at least it was only a night away from Friday.

Having been worn out with Star's shenanigans for the past week and having to deal with his homework without attending class, Marco wanted to spend the remainder of today, or even the week, to just relax from all the crazy things going on so quickly.

He'd been through countless dimensions and misadventures ever since Star had popped in out of nowhere just last month, and it seemed that every day she had something new for them to explore or try out. Floating pony heads, having a monster for an arm, and having to fight monsters on a consistent basis was only the start.

It was all fun and exciting the same, he probably would never be able to live life the way he used to if Star had gone. Although as a month went by with no stopping with the adventures, it was beginning to weigh on Marco. He was starting to neglect everything else around him with adventures at the top of his mind, his family, his (other) friends, and his grades.

Everything in his life had spun around and he needed at least some time to keep track of it all.

He settled onto his bed, relaxing as he mulled over the past few days.

He'd gotten so distracted he failed to notice the sound of footsteps running across the hall…

"MARCO!" He'd heard, flinching up in his bed as he looked towards the door, startled at Star's unexpected arrival.

"Jeez Star, ever gonna start knocking?" He questioned, a bit annoyed at her lack of knocking a door before opening it. Seriously, one of these days she was gonna walk into some situation without knowing it.

"Nope! Ready for another dimensional adventure?" She said, her eyes shining with excitement, completely disregarding his frazzled attitude.

She jumped repeatedly as she sat on the bed beside him, awaiting his response. Her bouncing shook him up and caused any sense of peace and quiet to fade away.

He remained there for a moment, before eventually sighing and asking, "Star, don't you ever get tired of dimensional traveling every once and awhile? Don't you wanna take a break?"

Star's positive attitude faltered. "What do you mean Marco? Isn't dimension hopping fun?" She asked as her smile faded.

"I don't mean it like that Star, it's just that I'm worn out from everything that's happened for the past few days. I've had to adjust to so many new things and it's a bit stressful… I love going on these adventures, but don't you think we should just take a moment to stop for a while?"

"But that's boring! What are we going to do today then? We have like, five hours to do anything and yet you just wanna spend it lying down doing nothing?" She exclaimed, a bit hurt and angry at what she viewed as Marco only being lazy.

"I don't mean doing nothing Star, I just mean staying home with no magic or anything, and just enjoy yourself! There's a bunch of things to do here."

"Like what?"

"Hmmm… well, we can watch a Disney movie. How does that sound?"

"Disney Movie? What's that?"

"Not another word, Star."

He pulled her arm and headed down the stairs, dragging Star behind him in a rush.

He ushered Star to sit on the couch next to the television as he flicked the television on.

"Ooh! So this involves the magic teeh-vee thing of yours?"

"Yeah, although it's not magic. But you know what is magic? These movies!"

He grabbed the remote and flipped through some shows and movies, before eventually finding his movie of choice. The Lion King. One of his all-time favorites, and hopefully, soon to be Star's as well.

"Pffft, sure Marco. Then tell me, where do those people come from?"

"Not going to even try and explain how it works…"

"So it is magic, ha!"

"Sure… Just sit back and enjoy the show, Star."

He pressed play as he said that, and relaxed on the couch as Star did the same, focusing intently on the animated feature with wide eyes.

* * *

The next fifty or so minutes went by incredibly fast, with Star reacting accordingly to the movie's events as Mufasa fell and Simba ran, tearing at the saddening start, but slowly starting to smile as things started turning better for the lion as he made more friends and allies along the way.

For Marco, he loved to watch her reactions to his favorite moments and laugh alongside her whenever something funny or comedic happened, and, despite having watched the movie at least 5 other times, found it more exciting to watch again with Star watching with him.

For a while, any sense of time had seemed to go away as the two enjoyed the movie, and as the sun had finally set and the room darkened, they failed to notice.

Around seventy minutes in, Marco noticed Star shivering a bit, only realizing that it was dark just now.

"You cold Star?"

"Yeah…"

"Here."

He unzipped his hoodie and draped it over her.

He started to feel hungry as well, and ultimately decided to go get some food.

"I'm gonna go get a snack, you want some?"

"YES, I'm STARVING!"

He smiled at her response as she snuggled into his hoodie, the last few minutes of the movie playing all the while. Heading into the kitchen, he decided to make some nachos, thinking they'd make a great treat to end the night.

He went through the pantry and cupboards, taking tortilla chips and a rather large amount of cheddar cheese, before broiling them in the oven for a few minutes.

Once they were ready, he transferred the messy chips into a bowl and brought them over to the living room, almost immediately catching Star's nose. "Wow, that smells good! What ya got there, Marco?"

"Homemade Nachos!" He pridefully responded, playfully placing the bowl down on the coffee table like some high-end servant to Star's snickers.

Star was quick to take a chip, and with the first bite was just as quick to start eating more.

"Marco," She said, in between bites. "These are REALLY good!"

"Aw, thanks Star!"

Marco laughed to himself as he watched Star gobble up the remaining nachos at lightning speed.

"You've gotta make more Marco!"

"Sure thing Star."

And so, with another batch of nachos, the two finished the movie contentedly, calmly in their couch as the movie concluded on a high note.

"Marco?"

"Yeah?"

"Can we watch another one?"

"Of course!"

* * *

So they watched another.

And another.

And another…

Up to the point of where it was midnight and Star had fallen asleep while Marco himself was nearing it.

He had school tomorrow, but really, who cared? He'd went through a bunch of his favorite films all over again with Star and had fun doing it. He would wake up incredibly tired tomorrow, but it was worth it.

He looked over to the sleeping Star, snoring loudly still in his hoodie, smiling to himself.

He picked her up out of the sofa gently, doing his best not to wake her up, and headed up towards the stairs. From there, he headed to Star's room and placed her as lightly as he could on her bed, pulling back the sheets and tucking her in.

"Good night, Star."

She mumbled back.

"Good night Marco."

* * *

A/N: And that, my friends, is how Friendship Thursdays started… i guess lol

maybe the introduction is a bit weird

I loved to read the massive one-shot collections on here especially the ones from PFTones3482 and EVAunit42, those were my favorites to read, but it sucks that they don't update those collections much anymore. They've moved on to greater things.

Hopefully these are getting better too, I think I'm getting used to writing more after a month of doing this stuff, yay…

Sugar: Dang, you're right. That would've been a great idea to do. I might change it to a two-parter later on… I don't think I could try to write a harem if I even tried, probably every story here is going to be Starco related in some way or form. Regardless, thanks for the encouraging words as always, it is really appreciated!

I'm open to requests as always cause I think one of my poor suits in this stuff is actually thinking of prompts and stuff and I'd love to have some sort of interaction with you guys.

If you'd like to send me a prompt feel free to PM me (or just put it in your review hint hint)!

Anyways, reviews and criticism welcome as always.

until next time, back in the box i go


	3. Foresight

Often as a kid, he'd dream of other worlds and grand adventures. Of towering cities and castles, places he'd never been. Imagination was what made his childhood fun, the ability to just be careless and naive, so excitable, without concern or reservation.

To run in the fields and roll in the grass, to laugh and play as if nothing bad was happening in the world, and to simply breathe and enjoy it all.

But, as all kids do, Marco matured.

Life became more serious, dreams became more constrained, and his creativity simply faded over time. 'Fun' became more of a rare thing, only shared with those closest to him and in certain situations. The real world came ever closer each year, and at the ripe age of fourteen, it was closer than he'd thought it was.

Four years. That's all the time he had left before he'd leave his parents by to go off into college.

He'd remembered when it used to be five, six, seven, even eight years away. The time was passing away faster and faster, and eventually, he'd be thrust into harsh reality regardless of whether or not he was ready.

While others in his current age were only now starting to realize that time was running out and that the real world was nearing, Marco had his realization at around 3rd grade and started to question things and lose his naive childish character much faster than his classmates.

Maybe that's why the past few years had been so dull for him.

He'd thrown out the existence of Santa at a young age, stopped celebrating Halloween, seemingly cared less about his toys or getting whatever he wanted, and overall, became more and more serious.

Did he just grow up too fast?

No. To think he was an adult already, prepared for what was to come entirely, was a lie. He still had those fears and insecurities that existed within him. He still wasn't sure of what he'd wanted to do in his life.

If he was actually there already, he would know all of those things, right?

Well, he was still unsure of where everything in his life was going.

The most he could do was reassure himself that everything would work out in the end, that he'd be more prepared for a job and the bills before anyone else in his classes.

But that only made him think further.

Had he just wasted the best years of his life by throwing away the once exciting events and things, by developing a serious attitude towards his surroundings and caring about things too much?

Would it be worth it to say that he'd given up that careless and joyful feeling of no responsibility and no concern early on just to say he understood the truth behind things and only develop a more negative view of the world?

There was something inside him telling him that he'd lost that imaginative flair within himself that existed so long ago as a child, that he'd become more controlled and more in line. He no longer had that creative spark or that eagerness as a child.

It disappointed him. He worried too much and cared too much about his future that it seemed he'd forgotten to enjoy the present, and let his years go by without taking the time to take it all in.

But hey, what could he do about that?

Nothing.

The time had already been wasted. He'd just have to cope with the fact he'd regret his inability to enjoy those years for the rest of his life. Only his fault.

* * *

Then an unexpected thing occurred in the middle of the school year.

Star came out of nowhere and spun his world around.

She was an oddball in a sea of direction and certainty that had Marco aloof.

Star seemed to have the mental age of a four-year-old whilst retaining the mental capacity of a teen, as to say she acted like a child in a teen's body. She was utterly reckless and excitable, careless and at times, blind to reality.

It seemed weird.

Most kids at least developed a sense of responsibility at some point before high school, but for Star, it seemed she hadn't grown up at all, an exact opposite of him.

He didn't mean that in a rude way, because he, deep down, desired her ability to be so carefree and joyful about the world and everything in it he'd lost so long ago.

And so he'd followed her on her adventures and her journeys, through her struggles and her hardships, and for the first time in a while, found himself eager to wake up and do something great and unforgettable.

They had a dynamic that went off perfectly. Star would be the one to push the limits and take the risks, to jump in headfirst without a second thought. He would be the one to show constraint and be the voice of reason in their adventures.

But although his role in their relationship was the reasonable one, the serious and collected one, Marco slowly began to change.

The very fact that Star originated from another world in another dimension that he could only dream of, that she harnessed real, actual magic, and that she was an actual princess of an actual, powerful kingdom, only made him think back to those days as a child.

He was living his dreams, and it was all thanks to Star.

Hopping actual dimensions, fighting monsters in high stakes fights, and doing so without any trace of worry.

Slowly but surely, that energy came back to him. He worried less. He took more risks. He became more confident. He learned to enjoy the present.

And eventually, his mindset towards those once dreaded years changed.

No longer did he consider the time wasted years. Without them, he'd never understood how much Star had done for him, or be able to do so much alongside her to make a great team. He developed his logic and reasoning in these years.

More importantly, however, he no longer felt outcast and unusual because of his personality. He no longer believed that he didn't enjoy those days, that they were valuable in it of themselves.

Besides, he had learned to focus on the moment alongside the future and realized that, instead of focusing on his past, he should learn from it.

That time was already gone, regardless of what he thought of it, he couldn't change it, so he should learn and build on it instead of live in it.

Star, probably unintentionally, had taught him to have fun again, to imagine again, and to stop being so uptight about his mistakes.

She'd done so much for him…

The only question now was how he'd return the big favor.

* * *

"Marco Marco Marco MARCO!"

"Yeah Star?"

"Ready to go dimension hopping today?"

She had an incredibly wide smile and, albeit, a bit of a sinister aura as she cut open the first of many portals for the day.

"Born ready! Let's go Star!"

Marco seemingly took the lead from Star as he pulled her into the portal first, taking her by surprise for just a moment.

"Someone's all excited today!"

"Yup, so where are we now?"

He started walking off in a direction without much second thought, treating it as an everyday thing before Star held him back.

"Marco be more careful! Don't want to be falling down a thousand feet, do we? That stuff right there isn't solid!"

He paused for a moment and smiled.

...

Maybe he had already returned the favor.

"And you say I'm the clumsy one here!" Star joked with a grin of her own, poking him before continuing on the path as Marco trailed behind and tried his best to counter her statement.

* * *

A/N: 1.3k words

Just a question, but does the main idea/theme of these stories come across well enough? Like, is it clear to see what the thing is they learn at the end? Hopefully so, if it comes off as rambling please be sure to let me know.

Most of these are just normal things, but from time to time I'll write chapters like these and hopefully it gets the lesson across well enough.

Reviews:

InfiniteClockWise: Thanks for the quick review, glad you liked it!

Sugar: Alright, thanks for the advice, well appreciated!

anyways, I'm on a roll with these updates so far, only 2-3 days in between each post, nice! now all we'll have to see is how long it takes before that slows down...

Reviews and criticism welcome as always. Hope your day goes well!

until next time, to the box i go


	4. On the Road

The quiet hum of the engine was the only music they could hear.

It was eleven at night.

The occasional bump or shake was barely noticed by the passengers in the back, the car going down the two-lane freeway in absolute silence, it's occupants seemingly having forgotten the existence of anything else as he drove mellowly.

It seemed the energy had died down long ago, down with the sun as day gave in to night.

They'd been out for hours already, passing through countless towns and cities, endless deserts and winding mountains, playing games with the environment around them and telling stories to pass the time.

Now, the only challenge left was the impossible task of staying awake.

A challenge which both his mom and Star had already failed at, both snoring away lightly in their seats, oblivious to the world around them in dreams of their own.

He was, on the other hand, still awake.

Not energized by any means, but awake nonetheless.

He sat on the left corner of the car, eyeing the pitch black window outside and making note of the barely distinguishable silhouettes going by the window.

Star sat right dead center in the car, preferring to be right next to him rather than sit off in the corner far from him, even though the distance between them would be practically ignorable either way. Wasn't like he was complaining though, Star's presence was welcome, calming, even.

Personal bounds between the both of them had been nonexistent since day one, and so their proximity was a natural feeling.

Despite the car being nearly as cold as the outside air, he felt warm, even without his hoodie on.

There's no place he'd rather be than here.

In a car in the dead of night with family, Star, and his thoughts to pass the time.

In these moments, the desire to be somewhere, to do something, and have purpose would just disappear.

Just time to relax and enjoy his place in the world, no matter where it was, the time to realize the small things and appreciate the whole picture, where no outside force diverted attention and all that was left to him was his mind.

In a life where his days had become dominated by excitement and energy the past few months, these moments had become more and more rare, and became more and more appreciated and enjoyable.

There was no need to talk or speak about pointless riff-raff, only to silently acknowledge the comfort of the somber and relaxing night.

Star leaned on his shoulder, still in her slumbering state, taking Marco out of his trance in surprise. Silently realizing, he smiled ever so slightly to himself.

He slung his arm over her shoulder gently in response, looking at her for a moment to make sure she was comfortable before looking back to that window, trying to return to that state of mind of his.

But he couldn't.

He was too aware now, too present.

That feeling that came during silent drives would always fade at the slightest, and so it only occurred naturally, unable to arouse in forced circumstances when in focus.

It was something that couldn't be worded perfectly, that moment just before actual sleepiness and just above aware.

Well, nice while it lasted.

Now he'd just need to wait for that fleeting energy to go away for the last time today and cause him to sleep.

Which, given the setting, didn't take long.

With no real noise, no eye-catching sights, and no real need for anything, really, he became drowsy, the day's events starting to weigh on him more and more as he became more and more tired and sleepy.

His eyes shut and his breathing turned to a snore, his arm still comfortably around Star as he slowly began to lean on her as well.

Rafael could only smile at the sight, looking at the rear view mirror to see the two in their own universe of theirs as they leaned on the other and snored peacefully.

It was representative of their relationship overall the past few months, really.

Both leaned on the other for support, both trusted each other, protected each other, and really, both cared for the other.

Now all that remained was seeing how long it would take until they'd get together. He could only grin at the thought of teasing Marco in good natured fun watching him turn about as red as a tomato.

For now though, they both seemed content with where they were, and he wouldn't press it. He could guarantee that they'd get to that point someday though, and he could only be proud of his son for that.

He returned his attention back to the road.

How long had he been driving?

Five? Seven hours?

Maybe he could drive a little longer…

* * *

A/N: I think all of the oneshots on here are pretty mellow... kinda have a thing for that.

808 words

This is just some 'road trip' sorta thing where they've been out on the road for about a few hours now. 400-500 words short of my average, but hopefully the description makes up for its short length. I think it would be a cool idea to expand and continue off it, maybe do something like go into more detail about that Yellowstone trip of theirs. I dunno, let me know what you think.

Thanks for reading!

InfiniteClockWise: tbh the reason why I'm not jumping straight into shipping stuff is cause them actually dating kinda feels unnatural to me, i dunno it's some sort of weird thing. I don't think I could even write them in a romantic relationship very well if I did as well, so yeah... Thanks for your words as well!

Sugar: Alright, nice! Now I know that I can at least sort of do that, yay. Glad you liked it!

Reviews and criticism welcome as always.

also pls give me prompts if you're up for that? anyone?

until next time,

to the box i go


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